#Ferguson Decision: How do you respond?

Disheartening watching Twitter tonight. It seems there are few topics that enflame and divide the citizenry more than the topics of racism and privilege. We claim we have moved past it. We certainly want to. But the streets of Ferguson tonight show that we haven’t. And we don’t even seem to know how to voice our frustrations.

            I have always been fascinated by the terms “Pro-Life and Pro-Choice.” It’s never Anti-Life and Anti-Choice. Neither side even acknowledges the claims of the other. So it seems with the racism.

Dear 99% of my Facebook friends…by in large, white people have easier paths to the pursuit of happiness than most black people. The problem is, white people usually don’t see it. And we often refuse to try.

Read the twitter feed of #FergusonDecision.  Something is broken.  Nearly every Tweet from a white person refers to how justice was realized through the judicial system.  How others should be more mindful of the law.  This Tweet suggests that racial reconciliation can finally be realized if people just stop committing crimes and stop attacking police.  Seriously?  Is it really that easy?  Does anyone really believe this?

The entitlements that most white people are afforded are simply not available to others. We believe that the benefits and exceptions that we have are assumed experiences for everyone. This is entirely not true. If I walk into a Lexus dealership a sales person hopeful to meet his year-end quota approaches me quickly. Ask yourself honestly, what is the response if I am a young African American in a hoodie? If the same man walks up to Nordstrom as they are locking the door at closing…is the assumption he is buying a gift card for his mom’s birthday?

What an amazing perspective from Dr. Beauchman.  Can we not stop a moment and consider the truth behind his post?  This has to be more than group hysterics.  The experiences are real.

I have no basis to judge how the Ferguson community views this verdict. I have no idea what it feels like to be watched when I walk through Neimans. But I do know that true complete justice will never be found in this world but through the lens of the Gospel. This is a heart problem for both sides of the Ferguson streets. We are to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave us (Ephesians 4:32). We are to pursue healing and reconciliation just as Christ reconciled us to himself even to the point of His death on the cross. Christ gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2Corinthians 5:18).

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We will not find healing, peace, and justice in the laws of man. These will only be found in and through the Author of them.

Lord, protect the streets of Ferguson and this nation tonight. Heal us. And let the healing start as every race reaches out humbly to acknowledge the imbalances in our broken world and finds balance at the level ground of the cross of Christ.

How do we profile without even realizing it as we walk through our lives each day?

How should Christians respond?

3 things I learned from the prodigal son’s father in seat 14H

“Excuse me…that’s my seat…14J…window…sorry.”

My seatmate in 14H had boarded early. He was a veteran. I could tell by the blue Navy Vietnam cap he had already pulled down over his eyes. I thanked him for his service. He never looked up. Cap down. Arms crossed. Exuding a powerful message of “leave me alone.” Message received and understood. I settled into my seat. Put on my headphones and settled in for the 3 hour flight to San Francisco.

“Thank you.” I felt his hand on my arm and looked over at him. “What?” I said. “Thank you for thanking me for my service. I should have acknowledged you,” he said through bleary eyes.   I smiled and thanked him again.

He explained that he had gotten up at 3AM to drive to from Louisiana to catch this first flight to San Francisco. He had a long day in front of him. I asked if this trip was business or pleasure. He paused for a moment. “Its family business, but not pleasurable.”

His name was James. I was guessing by the lines of wisdom and experience in his face that he was in his 70s. I asked about his time in the Navy. He told me stories of tragedy and victory. Stories of pain and joy. He left the Navy and went into the construction business. He met his wife there and they had both recently retired. He asked what I did. That is always difficult to answer.

I mentioned that I am a follower of Jesus Christ and generally always involved in some crafty project that helps me follow Him around to see what He is doing. James grimaced at me. “Yippee for you. I don’t believe in God. Not after what I’ve seen. In the war, in the news, around the world, and in my family,” he told me. I smiled and said I understood. I asked if that’s what he meant by how this trip was un-pleasurable family business.   He said “Yes, exactly.” He turned away from me staring blankly into the seat back in front of him. I will never forget his words. “I am going to San Francisco to try and find my son.”

James’ son is named Scott. Two years ago Scott lost his job. He became ill. He exhausted his savings. Scott’s shame kept him from asking for help. Scott felt he could pull himself out on his own. Scott soon ended up on the street. James had not heard from him in nearly two years. Unbelievably James boards American flight #23 a few times each month to San Francisco to spend the day walking the hilly streets looking for Scott. He then returns to the airport to catch American #1112 back to Dallas. The red eye. Every two weeks. For two years. More than 100 round trips with nothing but an old photograph and some hope. But not a prayer.   There is no God. Remember?

James found Scott once. He was walking down the street in a part of town no one should be and he saw him. He ran to him. They both cried. They got a cup of coffee and caught up. James surprised Scott’s mom and put him on the phone. James teared up telling me about that conversation.   Can you imagine?   Then Scott became anxious, nervous. Perhaps the shame was catching up to him. Scott stood up and walked out. That was two years ago. The next week James got back on a plane and tried again. Unbelievable.

I asked James, “I know you don’t believe in God, but do you have any memories of reading any bible stories as a child?” I asked him if he had ever heard of the story of the Prodigal Son? He said no. I smiled. “May I tell you a story?”

I read Luke 15 to him. The story of the young prodigal son who left to pursue life on his own. The story of the father sitting on the porch every day looking for him. The story of how the father saw his son walking towards him one day and went running to him. “That’s what I did,” James said. “When I saw Scott I ran to him! I didn’t care why he left. I just wanted to hold him and welcome him back!”

We talked for 3 hours. When we were landing I offered to pray. “That would mean the world to me but don’t pray too hard for me to find Scott…I don’t want to be disappointed,” James told me. I laughed and told him “I haven’t told you what I’m going to be praying for.” He seemed confused.

James, I prayed fervently that the Lord would lead you to find Scott on this trip. I also prayed that you would find a bit more of yourself too. But my most passionate prayer was that as you were walking the streets looking for Scott that you would find God.

Scott, I pray for God’s provision, safety, and care upon you. I pray for God to bring your father and you together again. I pray for God to bring someone in to your life that can give you hope and love. Someone to remind you that your heavenly Father loves you even more than your earthly father.

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What an amazing gift the Lord gave me. An opportunity to see so much love. So much grace. So much mercy. To see in James’ eyes the hope of seeing his son again. Imagining the look in Scott’s eyes when he saw the father he thought must have forgotten him.  And through James’ eyes be able to imagine the look in God’s when we come home to Him again. When we come back to God after a journey in our life when we thought we could live without Him. And when we do come home to see Him running towards us. Not caring why we left…only that we came back home.

• Will you pray for them with me?
• Have you ever felt that way about someone? “I don’t care about the details…I just want to hold you again?”

My morning at McDonalds…and how I met Jesus there

I had breakfast at McDonalds this morning (I know, I know.) The drive-thru lane was too long and no one was inside so I gave the counter a try. One sausage/egg burrito with hot sauce and a cup of water for $1.25…I’ve done worse on more. Plus they have wifi. Score!

I sat down to enjoy my cornucopia horn of plenty and abundance when I noticed an employee scampering around the store. He clearly did not belong behind the counter. Maybe in his late 50s, immaculate dresser, pressed slacks, tie, purple socks (liked him already), and very cool wire rim glasses.

He never stopped moving while giving whispered advice and counsel to each employee. He had a commanding presence while always flashing a sincere smile when he talked to each of them.

I noticed him wet a napkin and wipe off the back of a cashier’s monitor. I noticed a customer ask for a missing straw for a juice box and the man gave him a straw plus an extra juice box for his trouble. He looked the customer in the eye and asked what else he could do and how he hoped he had a nice day.

He finally sat down at his laptop near me and began furiously typing. I was guessing he was either the owner or a regional executive with McDonalds. My curiosity got the best of me so I walked up to introduce myself. His name was Brad.

I was close but he works for the couple that owns the store. They own 25 McDonald franchises. Brad has worked for McDonalds his entire life. It’s the only job he has ever had. He started behind the counter when he was in high school 40 years ago. He now visits stores all day and does customer service quality control.

We talked for a while. He acknowledged that McDonalds is going through a season of change. They lost control of their branding and they stopped listening. Brad is all about branding and listening. You could see it in his eyes. He was proud of the brand and sad that it had lost some its luster. He was willing to listen to anyone about how their experience could be better while in his store. He told me “if you don’t control your own brand messaging others will do it for you.” Wise words.   He told me “if you don’t listen to the people you care about most they will stop talking to you.” More wisdom.

Then he asked what I do. His face distorted for a moment. But then I explained how we are in the same business. His brow furrowed and he tilted his head. I told him that while the McDonalds brand that he is most passionate about started 60 years ago….the brand I am most passionate about has a bit longer history. And yet our observances are the same. Or should be.

Perhaps just maybe Christianity has lost its brand messaging and has stopped listening too. Christianity has allowed others to define Christianity. And since Christians so rarely listen and answer those we are called to care most about they have stopped asking us questions.

Brad smiled.  Agreed. We shook hands and parted ways.

I checked on Amazon this morning. There are 2,969,621 results for “Christian books.” Between books, tv programs, radio programs, sermon pod casts, and blogs (yep) we have no shortage of external resources to tell us what to think. But what is our own personal theology. How do we describe our brand rather than letting others describe it for us.

We are each theologians. The word theology is a comprised of the words Theos (God) and logos (word). Theology is a personal study of the word of God.

Your theology should help you divide orthodoxy from heresy. Your theology should help you explore your faith while pleasing God by glorifying Him. It should examine teaching and assign importance. Your theology should connect the seemingly irreconcilable truths of God and relate them to culture. And that last point…”connecting truth” should involve compassionate listening so we can even understand the culture.

Brad, thank you for your time today. Thank you for letting me watch your passion for your brand. Thank you for listening to me. I pray today that someone will see my passion for Christ.  I pray I will look for ways to engage culture.  I pray that I will be able to clearly communicate my theology.  I pray I will take the time to listen when I do.  Amen.

Molly Shattuck…what went so tragically wrong.

Molly Shattuck, 47 and a former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader, was accused yesterday of raping a 15-year-old boy over this past Labor Day weekend at her Delaware beach house. Molly, who made history as the oldest woman to become an NFL cheerleader, is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting the young boy. The Associated Press reports that Shattuck faces two counts of third-degree rape, four counts of unlawful sexual contact and three counts of providing alcohol to minors. Court documents allege that Shattuck saw the boy’s pictures on Instagram and got in touch with him.

This was followed by the story last week of 24-year-old teacher Megan Mahoney who was arrested last month on charges of 30 counts of rape and criminal sexual act with a 16 year old student.

So what went so tragically wrong?

To this young man …and the countless young children over time that have been abused by those they should trust…you belong to one of the largest and most influential rising generations our nation has seen. You are also one of the most unique. You were raised playing on teams, wearing uniforms, being mainstreamed, and working on group assignments. You are brilliant at conforming and cooperating. But you are aching for independent thought and creativity. You crave peer support. You feel interchangeable with others your age. Your generation is also the most overbooked and overactive generation in history. You are perpetually under stress, don’t get enough sleep, have short attention spans, feel no strong commitments, and have little experience with introspection.

To parents…its what drives this generation to their phones. Facebook replaces true community. Text replaces introspective conversation. A ten second Vine video replaces a long conversation. They hook up on Tinder. Twitter gives them the sensation of sharing. And Instagram says this is who I am and what’s important to me.   Instagram is your identity. And his vulnerability on Instagram lead him right into the arms of a woman who was seeking validation for many of the same things you were.

I adore technology. Im a digital immigrant masquerading as a native. I am an early adopter of all things digital. But for this rising generation I pray we can all find ways to slow them down and let them know they are individuals. They aren’t interchangeable with their friends. They are unique.

Matt Chandler at The Village Church is teaching a series on this called a Beautiful Design. “Our culture is always shifting. And at a faster and faster rate. Society tells us who we should be as men, women, boys, and girls…but its message keeps changing. However, the Bible teaches us exactly who we are. God’s beautiful design for us is true and perfect, leading to joy and human flourishing.”

God created us each to have unique characteristics and purpose. He also created us to have a peace and contentment in our lives through His will. We discover who we are as we draw closer to Him.

When did this start to so tragically go wrong? From the moment time began.  From the moment we hid from God and said I know better who I am.  And it continues to happen every day. It happens when we put our trust, hope, faith, and confidence in ourselves for identity, control, and affirmation. We make lousy gods. Those around us make lousy gods. Our identity is not found on our profile but can only be found in the eyes and words of the One who created us.

To the young man…what she did to you was wrong and is not your fault. I know that coming forward was painful, but now you can begin healing. I pray as you heal you will learn your identity is not in how a woman or the world sees you. Your identity is not your profile page. Nor is your identity found in how you compare yourself to the profiles and posts of others. It is in God alone.  He loves you dearly and like none other.  Let God’s loving embrace show you true love.

To Molly…the light of confession and discovery is painful for you too, but now you can heal as well. Likewise, your identity is not in your body, your appearance, your perfection, your age, or in how you think others perceive those things. It too is in Christ.

To each of us…If we are honest there is a piece of us that can be found in this young man and Molly both.  I know there is in me.  As we each scramble through our day to “check in” and establish our web presence for the world to admire may we each remember how fleeting our digital dignity is. Our dignity is destined to rest solely in the hands of the Divine. And only for His pleasure and design.

John 1:12

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Ephesians 1:5

He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.

Romans 15:7

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Colossians 2:9-10

For in Christ all the fullness of God lives in bodily form,  and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Hozier – “Take Me To Church”…whats in the chained satchel?

 

“Take Me to Church” is a song by Irish recording artist Hozier. In May 2014, Hozier performed the song on the Late Show with David Letterman. He played it on SNL a few weeks ago and its heard on the sound track for the new movie Fury with Brad Pitt.

Hozier claims that “Take Me to Church” is a metaphor, with the main character comparing his lover to religion. The video follows the relationship between two men in a same-sex relationship and the violently homophobic attack that occurs when the community learns about their relationship.  State magazine noted that the video echoes the wave of violence currently plaguing the LGBT community in many parts of the world, particularly Russia.

Regardless of the LGBT theme of the video, the imagery of one of the characters frantically burying a chained satchel case is powerful. What do you think is in the satchel? What secret is he hiding? It should beg us each to ask the same question.

What are we hiding?

What are we most afraid of being discovered about our own life?

The lyrics are powerful about a church that is often harsh and judgmental. Not loving. Not forgiving. We are told in scripture to confess our sins to one another (James 5:16) but are we walking along side others we can trust to love us through that confession?  Can we have the safe, honest, open, transparent conversations about the darkest corner of our lives that we so ache to share.

Churches should be a safe harbor for the faint among us; a home for the most broken; a shelter for the hurting; a hospital for those most sick. The church should be a Gospel centered community of God’s gathered. It should offer to all the same love, joy, hope, and healing that God himself offers in the gospel through Christ to us all.

As the great Puritan preacher Richard Baxter once said, “churches are full of dying people called to love dying people.”

As the song cries…“Every Sunday’s getting more bleak, a fresh poison each week. I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife. That’s a fine looking high horse. What you got in the stable? We’ve a lot of starving faithful.”

Lord, I pray for Sundays that aren’t bleak but full of light (Job 29:3; 33:30)

Lord, I pray that Your words be fresh, and not poison (Psalm 119:103)

Lord, I pray we sheath our knives (John 13:35)

Lord, I pray we climb off our high horses to be humble (Romans 12:16)

Lord, I pray the faithful will never hunger again when they come to Jesus (John 6:35)

Brittany Maynard died on Saturday…right on schedule. But whose?

Brittany Maynard, 29, was diagnosed in April of this year with a stage 4 malignant brain tumor and given six months to live. She also learned how she would suffer in the end, losing her ability to speak and use of her own body. So, earlier this month, she made plans to die on her own terms. Those terms ended on Saturday. She took medication prescribed by a physician that ended her life while in her bedroom in Portland, Oregon in the presence of her husband and parents.

“I don’t want to die,” Maynard told CBS “This Morning.” But she said she was suffering from “bone-splitting” headaches, seizures and “moments when I’m looking at my husband’s face and I can’t think of his name.”

At the time of her diagnosis, Maynard was living in San Francisco with her husband. Doctors prescribed full brain radiation. She looked at the side effects and alternative treatments. She even looked at hospice care. “After months of research, my family and I reached a heartbreaking conclusion,” she wrote in an op-ed for CNN. “There is no treatment that would save my life, and the recommended treatments would have destroyed the time I had left.”

“For people to argue against this choice for sick people really seems evil to me,” she told PEOPLE. “They try to mix it up with suicide and that’s really unfair, because there’s not a single part of me that wants to die. But I am dying.”

So she chose doctor-assisted death. However, California, like most states, does not have a law allowing terminal patients to end their lives. So she and her family relocated to Oregon, where she qualified for doctor-assisted suicide. Portland is one of five states with legal protections for terminally-ill patients who want to end their suffering.

It was Brittany’s choice. However, the debate has raged with opponents of physician-assisted suicide. You can understand the moral and religious concerns. Others worry that some people struggling with depression and mental disease would use such laws to end their mental suffering instead.

The Bible mentions six specific people who committed suicide: Abimelech (Judges 9:54), Saul (1 Samuel 31:4), Saul’s armor-bearer (1 Samuel 31:4–6), Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:23), Zimri (1 Kings 16:18), and Judas (Matthew 27:5). Some consider Samson’s death an instance of suicide, because he knew his actions would lead to his death (Judges 16:26–31).

The Psalmist says “My times are in your hands” (Psalm 31:15). In Job, God is the giver of life. He gives, and He takes away (Job 1:21). I understand theologically that suicide, the taking of one’s own life, can be seen as ungodly because it rejects God’s gift of life. I understand how no man or woman should presume to take God’s authority upon themselves to end his or her own life. But God is sovereign and is never surprised by our actions. Was Brittany’s timing the timing of God too perhaps?

I have a personal stake in this. I understand the spiritual and theological implications. I have weighed them personally.

For those that have come to a quick decision on this emotionally charged topic…please guard your judgment carefully until you have held the hand and looked in the eyes of a loved one as they die. Until you have made the personal decision to remove palliative care, signed a DNR, and taped it to their bedroom door and bed frame in case paramedics arrive before you do.

I pray you never have to walk through this situation, but until you do I envy your ability to judge a person’s end of life choice. I envy you because that means you have not been through the hell that others have as a caregiver to a terminally ill family member.

I have had to do this four times as an adult. I pray you never have to…but I caution you too to temper your words and judgment. Be slow to call into question her thoughts, feelings, misgivings, pain, or suffering. And for those that have, I can not imagine anything more disrespectful than accusing her of “using the disease as an excuse or cause.”

My father was treated for a brain tumor that was destroying his ability to communicate and reason. He ultimately refused further care that was keeping him alive so he could speak to us and eventually die in my mother’s arms. Did his decision end his life prematurely?

Years later my mother refused to eat after months of struggling with pancreatic cancer. A month before she died the chemo therapy drugs she was taking caused clots in her arteries. We had a stint put in. It would save her life but she didn’t want to die of a heart attack.   We took her home and we gave her morphine drops until she died in our arms from cancer. Did her decision hasten her death?

My grandmother was 98 and diagnosed with pancreatitis too. She refused treatment that could have kept her alive. Did she commit suicide?

I pray you never have these experiences…but please guard your words until you have sat on a loved ones bed through tears and prayers and discussed whether to let them die. You have no idea of the “timing,” private conversations, and prayers between her husband and her doctors.

I have found nothing telling me of Brittany’s spiritual life. I do hope she knew that she was bought with a price. I pray she knew she was loved by Jesus.  I pray she knew that her life was not our own.   She lived and she died and she suffered for the glory of Christ, our Lord. “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). I pray that Brittany’s timing was God’s too.

To Brittany’s husband and parents…I have no idea as to the eternal state of Brittany’s soul but I do know she would want you to know that as her knees and head are bowing right now to Christ that she desperately hopes you will now give your remaining days to “prepare for the eternal weight of glory” with Him. (2 Corinthians 4:17).

To Trevor Moran and his new song: Echo

 

 

 

 

IF YOU DON’T KNOW who Trevor Michael Moran is…Trevor is 16, from California, and lives at home with his parents. At the age of 10 Trevor walked into an Apple Store. He activated the camera on a Mac and begin recording a video of himself dancing to a popular song. He recorded several more. They have been seen millions of times on YouTube. In 2012, he started his own YouTube channel known as Our2ndLife (O2L), which hit 2.6 million subscribers and has had 330 million page views. He has gone on to release several songs recorded at home on YouTube that have debuted on the Electronic Dance Digital Song Billboard chart. His most recent song was jut released.

Why is he important? He represents a generation that is confident, optimistic, and upbeat. They are also the largest generation in our nation’s history. So goes Trevor’s generation, so goes our nation. More so than being influenced by logic, science, and reason of their older siblings, Trevor’s generation has an unquenchable desire for stimulating experience. They are also deeply spiritual. If you have a “Trevor” in your home…don’t lecture…share experiences. They are also media hogs and spend more than 8 hours a day consuming and creating media content. They are also in constant search for new means of self-expression through YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Vine, Snap Chat, etc. Thus Trevor’s “Apple store video.”

IF YOU DO KNOW who is Trevor Moran is…then I want you to know you live in an amazing time. I know you are nervous about your future. I know you believe you are likely going to succeed but right now you have this consuming fear you are unprepared for your future. You are facing more life stress and having to mature faster than any other generation before you. I know you consider yourself “spiritual” but its not enough. You need more than a sermon and attending Sunday school. You need close friends. You need experience. You need something transparent and real.

In the lyrics to Trevor’s new song “Echo” he says…”You and I, we were on to something. Now I’m left with nothing at all and I wanna hear your echo. Got to be the name you call.”

Keep searching. Keep pushing. Keep experiencing. Keep expressing. But be careful in what you are searching for. The experiences and people you encounter in the world are fleeting and you will often feel “left with nothing at all.” Find a few close friends that will be open, honest, transparent, and real with you. And as you pursue spiritual truth, seek also for the one Friend that will never leave or forget you. Jesus desires to walk with you and share experiences that wont leave you feeling nothing, but will leave your life transformed.  Place your life before God’s and He will transform you.  Read the books of 1 and 2 Timothy in the Bible.  Timothy was about your age when he began searching after truth too.

Dear Trevor, I know you must be nervous but be strong. I am so excited to watch what God will do through your generation. The world will never be the same!

Tim Cook: “Being gay is God’s greatest gift.” Huh?

The CEO of Apple announced today “I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.”

More so than Steve Jobs, Cook has always strived for a basic level of privacy in his personal life.   Recently he has apparently come to the conclusion that his desire for personal privacy had been holding him back from doing something more important. Namely to make clear his sexual orientation to the world.

For years, he had been open with many people about his sexual orientation. While he never denied his sexuality, he never publicly acknowledged it either, until now.  He explains that “being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority…provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day…made me more empathetic…and led to a richer life.”

He adds “part of social progress is understanding that a person is not defined only by one’s sexuality, race, or gender.” Cook goes on to identify himself as “an engineer, an uncle, a nature lover, a fitness nut, a son of the South, a sports fanatic, and many other things.”

I have a great deal of respect for Cook’s leadership skills. Most certainly for their entire product line. I’m writing this blog on a MacBook Air and you are probably reading it on an iPhone. I think his sexual orientation is completely irrelevant to his position in the organization.   I’m even willing to accept the argument that being gay has made him a more empathetic leader.

What intrigued me most about Tim’s comment was how he enlisted the name of God.   Lets explore that.

To begin, I know absolutely nothing of his spiritual or theological views. He did mention he is a “son of the south and sports fanatic” so perhaps he is a Christian. <sarcasm>. But I’m more interested in how he defines a gift from God. He calls his sexual orientation a gift from God. But truth be told, we each ascribe “good things” in our life as gifts from God that may mask the “greatest gift” as Tim describes it.

Tim’s homosexual identity is not the greatest gift from God. But neither is someone else’s heterosexuality. Our identity is not in our sexual orientation, or how we see ourselves, or how express ourselves. Our identity is Christ.

In John 1:12 it says “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Our identity is being His child.

In Ephesians 1:5 it says “God predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” Our identity is a chosen adopted child of God.

In Colossians 2:9-10 it says that “for in Christ all the fullness of God lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ.” Our identity is being Christ when we are united with the Lord and one with him in spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

Being a Christian does not need a modifier or adjective.   We aren’t “gay Christians” or “straight Christians” or “Republican, Democrat, Southern, or Baptist” Christians. A follower of Christ is a Christian not by virtue of how we live or identify ourselves.

A Christian is one who has been called by God to faith in Jesus Christ for His glory and by His grace.   And that, my brother Tim, is in fact the greatest gift of God. Not your sexuality…but His grace. His mercy. His love in spite of who we are apart from Him.

PS. I plan on getting the iPhone 6 when I upgrade in February. Sorry for the delay

Did Shia LaBeouf convert?

“I became a Christian man, and not in a fucking bullshit way – in a very real way.” Not exactly how you would expect most testimonies to begin from within the warm baptismal waters of First Baptist Church. However, according to a recent article in Interview Magazine, the Jewish-born actor Shia LaBeouf has decided to reject Judaism and convert to Christianity after he “found God” while working on his new film “Fury” starring Brad Pitt.

LaBeouf said “I could have just said the prayers that were on the page…but it was a real thing that really saved me…it’s a full-blown exchange of heart, a surrender of control.” Shia mentioned that Fury director David Ayer and co-star Brad Pitt helped him through the conversion process. Interesting.

Concerning Brad Pitt, in a 2011 Time magazine interview he mentioned that there is an “unexplained power; there is this force. And maybe peace can be found, but not by trying to explain it with the religion. Maybe there’s peace to be found just in that acceptance of the unknown. Christianity is opium for mankind.” Pitt briefly mentioned that he grew up in a Christian environment but that the religion is no longer for him. “As I became an adult – it doesn’t work for me.” Interesting.

Concerning David Ayer, in an interview with the director in Relevant Magazine discussing the theology found in the movie “Fury” Ayer says that “in war films, you’ll often see a person of faith, but the way they’re depicted often feels caricatured. It doesn’t feel like a grounded faith or a living faith. It was important to me to show how someone can lean on Scripture and their relationship with Christ in an environment where they’re seeing this much inhumanity and destruction.”

One of Ayer’s favorite scenes in the movie is an exchange between Boyd Swan (LaBeouf) and Wardaddy (Pitt).

Boyd ‘Bible’ Swan: “Here’s a Bible verse I think about sometimes. Many times. It goes: And I heard the voice of Lord saying: Whom shall I send and who will go for Us? And I said: Here am I , send me!”

Wardaddy: “Book of Isaiah, Chapter six.”

LaBeouf’s character seems surprised that Wardaddy was familiar with the passage. As Ayer explains it gets to this notion of calling. We hear ads for military service that speak of “answering the call.” At the same time, people who go into ministry speak of being called by God. The people who answer these calls often find themselves set apart from the rest of society. They’re either held to a higher standard or put on a pedestal.

In his personal life, LaBeouf has not done well atop that pedestal. He has been on a steady climb to the top of the Hollywood A-List for his roles in all 3 Transformer movies, Wall Street, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, iRobot, etc. But Shia has also been in the headlines for unexpected behavior in his personal life. In January he famously “retired from public life” with a stunt on the red carpet at the International Film Festival wearing a paper bag over his head that said “I AM NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE.” The former Disney star also earned global attention when he hired a skywriter to apologize for plagiarizing and then plagiarized the apology.  Not a good run.

Shia is a confused soul. But a soul on a journey.  Just like us all.  I think there is a deeper truth revealed in the article. One much more profound than his journey guided by Pitt and Ayer. He says in the article that “I’ve always been a runner my whole life, running from myself. Whether to movies, or drinking and drugging or fucking calamity or whatever it is, I’ve always been a runner.”

Doesn’t faith begin by admitting we are runners? Consider Ezra 10, David in Psalms 51, and Paul in 1 Timothy 1. And is there a better example of an admission of running than the Prodigal Sons in Luke 15? The younger son ran away from everything good towards everything bad. He finally admits, “Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.” (MSG)

[Spoiler Alert] One of the more memorable lines from Pitt comes toward the end as they are facing down the steady advance of 300 German soldiers. When given an easy opportunity to tuck tail, Wardaddy says, “We ain’t never run before. Why we gonna run now?”

Shia, dear brother…keep running from yourself. You wont find the answer there. None of us do. I think you know that. But keep running.   In the movie you quoted from Isaiah 6. It was actually 6:8. Take a moment and read 6:1-7. That is Who I pray you run towards. The One that is called Holy, Holy, Holy. Run to Him and “behold, your guilt will be taken away, and your sin atoned for.”  Run there.

I think we can all learn from Shia’s confession.  Not merely reading “prayers on the page” but understanding faith begins by first admitting we need to stop running to ourselves for answers.

This movie is rated R for strong sequences of violence, some grisly images, and language throughout…sort of like your life and mine.

Dear A***,

Dear A***,

I see you quite often behind the counter at Starbucks. 

You occasionally remember my name and always seem to have a smile.

I try to smile back…and hope you don’t see me noticing the scars.

As you ring up my Grande Ginger Ale Fizzio I try to count without staring.

Both arms.  At least 50 on each arm. 

 Starting just below your elbow to just above your wrist.

I can tell by how you avoid your wrist that its not about suicide.

That would be easy enough.

Its not about ending your life is it?…its about living it.

It’s not about avoiding?…it’s about releasing.

It’s about moving the pain from your heart to your arm.

 I also notice you aren’t cutting high.

You are cutting below your elbow. 

They are healed now but people will notice them there wont they. 

It is a cry for help.

Are you cutting your thighs too? Your toes?

Eating disorder too?  Probably.

That’s what its about isn’t it?  Control.

Controlling and expressing secret pain that’s hidden in your heart.

 Maybe your parents told you to shut up and stop crying.

Perhaps you were fractured by someone close to you and felt you had to keep that secret.  Your heart was breaking and your arm took the pain.

 A***, you aren’t alone.  You are loved.  Someone cares.  Someone wants to listen.

The scars look healed now. 

I don’t dare ask, but I hope the addiction has healed too.

I pray you have someone safe in your life that will let you cry.

Lord, show A*** your scars.   Let her know how she can be healed by Your scars (Isaiah 53:5).  Lord, as she is looking for a safe place to release the pain in her heart, let her know how You (1 Peter 2:24) can take her pain.  Lord, bless A***.  Bless her, keep her, may Your face shine upon her, and bring her peace.